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About me
My instrument is the bass, both as a singer and as an instrumentalist.
I work as bass player, singer, band coach, choir director and music teacher.
These are my current activities:
Thomas Plath Band
The Thomas Plath Band was founded in September 2007 with the aim to perform a roughly 20-minute set in the style of Fusion Rock at the opening of the "FERMATE" exhibition by Cologne artist Sabina Flora.
The composition: "Bon Voyage Suite" emerged, was performed and then developed a life of its own.
Thus it is not only available as an Audio CD, but it will soon be heard in another vernissage as well.
Hamburg artist Marion Intzen-Schiff and I are also planning a Photo Book with an inserted DVD, on which the complete "Bon Voyage Suite" can be heard and seen as an Audio/Video montage.
(See
Demo Version)
Lineup:
Imke Pfeiffer (flute), Holger Lechterbeck (electric piano), Tobias Plath (electric guitar), Thomas Plath (electric bass), Andreas Plath (percussion), Frank Mattutat (drums).
LECHTERBECK
We play really good Soul music set to German lyrics. Holger Lechterbeck (lead vocals, keyboards) lent his name to the band. The other members are Heike Seeler (backing vocals) Isabella Rose (backing vocals) Imke Pfeiffer (flute) Christoph Ebenthal (electric guitar) Andy Plath (percussion) Frank Mattutat (drums) and of course I, Thomas Plath, am in on the act (electric bass).
JO´S AFFAIR
Jo's Affair sing a cappella. There are four of us, we being Anne Weber (Soprano), Sörin Bergmann (Alto), Holger Lechterbeck (Tenor) and I (Bass). We present an ecclectic programme. Jazz, Soul, Gospel and Film Music abound in our unique Jo's Affair sound. From Jazz Ballads via Stevie Wonder songs and hot Samba rhythms, fiery Gospel to our own self-created musical style - Criminal Music. Everything is there: Derrick, Bond, Peel and Stöver - our crime scene is the stage!
LUCKY AND THE POWERROCKETS
Here there's ROCK ´N ROLL from the 50ies to the 70ies with "Lucky" Peter Simon (vocals, guitar), Norbert Kujus (guitar, vocals), (new:) Michael Muth (drums, vocals) and with me (bass, vocals).
Choir direction (Musikschule Norderstedt)
Music tuition (Musikschule Norderstedt)
Additional activities at the Musikschule Norderstedt since 1997
Thomas Plath Band (Photo: Asmus Henkel)
BackThis is how it all began...
Yes, I was born! Whoever thinks that I was endowed with everything at birth is wrong, though. I, too, had to kick up quite a lot to be able to make my vocation my profession.
One thing at a time, though. My native city is Bremen. That is where I joined the Bremen boys' choir U.L.F. towards the end of 1968 as Soprano and left it, due to my relocation to Schleswig-Holstein, in 1975, as Bass. Thus I owe a lot to Harald Wolf (up to 1971) and Chris Vandre´ (after)! From the spring of 1976 I was the singer and double-bass player with SUHRBROOK-FAMILY (International Folk) and entered the group EAST COAST (Latin-Rock/Jazz-Rock) in 1978. There I acted mainly as keyboarder and singer, occasionally also as bass player and composer. We had a lot of fun and even scooped various awards in Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark.
That came to an end in 1983. Not my delight in music, though! I moved to Hamburg and left both groups. At this point I really wanted to gather some more detailed knowledge and I started to study:
1983 and 1984 Studiengang Populäre Musik (Degree Programme Popular Music) at the Jugendmusikschule Hamburg (Youth Music School). Tutored by:
1983 and 1984 Seminar "Spielraum". Tutored by:
1985 3rd International Jazz Workshop in Tübingen. Tutored by:
Now let's go, I thought then, now put it all to work! And what is the best way to start after studying music? Exactly, founding a band. That's what I did in 1985, together with Beate Kynast, by founding the Vocal Quartet THE POPS. Two years later, the band was reshuffled a little and then renamed JOSEPHINE´S GARDEN. The main focus remained the a cappella singing, but there were also collaborations with the BUGGY-BRAUNE-TRIO and with JENS FISCHER. In addition, JOSEPHINE´S GARDEN was booked for advertising jingles, the title song for an animation series and as background choir for Pop productions, as well as a didactic concert series at schools ("From Monophony to Polyphony - Palestrina's Path"). In the meantime, after the autumn of 1986, I worked as a private vocals teacher at the same time. After seven years, we broke up the group JOSEPHINE´S GARDEN.
You live and learn, though. In 1987, I started studies at the Musikwissenschaftliches Institut Hamburg (Institute of Musicology Hamburg) with the main subjects being Systematic Musicology and Musical Acoustics. In addition, I was auditor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Academy for Music and Theatre) with Dieter Glawischnig (Jazz Arrangement) and Wolfgang Schlüter (Jazz Rhythmics). By the end of 1989, I ended my studies. In 1990, my three-year tution with Inge Graw (Classical Vocals) began. Meanwhile I was, in 1991, at Groove-House (a private music school) teaching Pop Vocals. Afterwards, in 1994 to be exact, I took on the direction of the children's choir of the church in Hamburg-Moorburg. At the same time, my collaboration with the South African group DUBE based in Hamburg began. A year later, in 1995, I entered the group B-75 (Rhythm & Blues) and in 1996 the group JOSIE (a Peter Maffay tribute band). With both groups, I was e-bass player. In that year I took on - until the year 2000 - the direction of the Multikultureller Chor of the Volkshochschule Hamburg-Mitte (multicultural choir of the adult education centre Midtown Hamburg).
After 1997, I then found myself working back in Schleswig-Holstein. I joined the Musikschule Norderstedt as teacher for Pop Music in the sectors Choir Direction (founding of N-Voices) and Vocals as well as Band Tuition. I also remained loyal to my adoptive home, Hamburg, and joined no less than two groups in 1998. Firstly, the a cappella group JO´S AFFAIR as Bass singer and secondly the band LECHTERBECK (Soul with German lyrics) as e-bass player. These two projects have, in fact, members in common. But in other projects there was a lot to do as well. Thus in 1999 I had performances of the children's musical "David und Jonathan" as a collaboration of the children's choirs of Hamburg-Moorburg and Hamburg-Finkenwerder, the Moorburg children's choir being broken up a year after, however. In the same year, another very nice collaboration took place - with Eva Gronemann, Cantor at St. Nikolai in Finkenwerder at that time. We directed the Gospel Choir "Shout For Joy". As nice was also the collaboration with South African Artist Lebo Masemola of the "Gobina Chor Projekt". In the year 2000, I was assigned the one-year commissarial direction of the Finkenwerder Gospel Choir. In the same year, I left the band B-75, but became a member of the newly founded band POPSTAR. A Britpop cover band at first, later on with more and more original compositions (German lyrics).
It takes almost alarmingly long to scroll down to this point of my vita, but that only means that I am far from wanting to take a rest and so I then completed the first extra-occupational course of studies "Pop music at the music school" from September 22nd, 2003 to February 23rd, 2005 with a successfully passed exam. The course of studies was sponsored and operated by:
